Progress made, more to be done in Mornington Shire: Fraser

October 12 2006

Progress made, more to be done in Mornington Shire: Fraser

Local Government Minister Andrew Fraser has appointed an independent advisor to monitor the performance of the Mornington Shire Council until the end of the year.

Mr Fraser said Mr Gary Kleidon would be placed with the Council to assist it in the continued improvement of its performance over the next three months.

He said Mr Kleidon – the CEO of Aurukun Shire Council – would assist Mornington Councillors and the Council CEO establish appropriate systems and processes to continue the improvements they had already achieved.

“The Mornington Shire Council was issued with a Show Cause Notice in January as to why it should not be dissolved,” Mr Fraser said.

“This Notice was issued after on-going concerns about the operations of the Council and subsequently, in July, the Council was given a three month trial period to demonstrate its commitment to improve its performance.

“It’s my pleasure to report that this Council, over the past three months, has come ahead in leaps and bounds to such an extent that dismissal is not warranted in my view.

“However, it is still not fully up to scratch.

“In that light, I have elected to appoint Mr Kleidon to monitor the Mornington Shire and assist it in its activities until December.

“While it’s been pleasing to see the performance of this Council improve to such a degree, it is still a priority of the State Government that Councils in every area of Queensland are performing at the highest level.

“Ratepayers need to have the upmost faith that their best interests are paramount to their elected local government representatives.

“We will closely monitor Mornington Shire over the next three months and, for that matter, any other Councils as necessary to provide Queenslanders with confidence in their local governments.”

Media Contact: Chris Taylor 0419 710 874